Well, it seems like Vessa agrees with some of your comments on the last two pages! I’ve really been enjoying reading all the thoughts you’ve shared– thank you.

I honestly don’t know how it happened so fast, but somehow we appear to be reaching the end of March already. The good news is, that means this Friday will be another First-Friday-of-the-Month bonus update! Please join us April 2nd to find out what else can possibly go wrong for our heroes.

Happy Passover to any and all who are celebrating!

Discussion (13) ¬

Vessa does bring up a good point. Just because they aren’t allowed to carry weapons doesn’t mean they can’t defend themselves if things go south. That comment about expendability could be taken to mean that they’re the first in the line of fire if things fall apart, but not that the crew of the ship with them won’t try to get them out of trouble, or that they just have to stand there and die.

Well, the difference is that if you’re carrying a weapon _before_ things go south, you could be the provocation. So a no weapons policy is compatible with a self-defense policy — as long as things remain tentatively peaceful.

Of course, that becomes illogical _after_ hostile contact has been established, but like many rules, the cases that nobody’s actually been to may make no sense. A provision that no weapons drops out if further fieldwork is needed after hostilities have broken out seems an obvious and sane addition — no doubt it’ll be added within 5 years of wrangling by the suits. I agree they should ditch that rule and carry weapons, but consider they’ve had as little as one or two minutes of discussion so far — not at all surprising they haven’t dropped the “these are the rules” stance yet.

As for Zan falling over — maybe, but when I do that I tend to run into taller objects (trees, telephone poles) and get stopped cold more than trip over things and fall flat. Etiher way, yeah.

@Maz: But then we go back to the difference between openly carrying weapons and keeping weapons hidden and only use them when things go South. How will the alien race know that you’re armed if they see that you’re apparently unarmed?

Furthermore, if you are encountering an alien race for the first time, what exactly constitutes a “weapon” to them if they have no idea what passes for weapons in Human society?

If they are at a similar developmental level as say stone age man then they won’t have a clue what those funny things (i.e. guns or rifles) you’re holding in your hands are. However, they may see the probe and think “aha! A staff, a spear, etc! Obviously they mean to harm us!”

On the other hand, if they are highly advanced or at a similar level of development of the human race in the Galaxion story then they will see the probe and think “well that looks like some kind of engineering or scientific device, doubt they mean to use that as a weapo- *whack*”

Simply put, what passes for a “weapon” can be and will be wildly different from alien race to alien race.

So, like I’ve said again previously, if you keep a small non-lethal weapon concealed and out of sight then you are exercising due diligence in ensuring the safety of yourself and your team mates. If you don’t need to use it then theres no problem, right?

Kev, I script by chapters, so I write pretty far in advance. I’m always making small changes to dialogue as I go, and I will admit to editing the dialogue of last week’s page in light of all the discussions, but I wasn’t altering the ideas, just the wording. The goal of that change was just to try to make Aria’s points more clear. Reader feedback is important to me, but I’m unlikely to change the story based on public opinion. I won’t say it’ll never happen, but it hasn’t so far. (I’ve certainly used reader feedback to fix spelling errors and continuity glitches, though, and am grateful to you kind people for pointing them out when you see them.)

So, to address J. Wilde’s point, this page was actually completed before I posted the page that sparked all the debate, and I didn’t alter any of it. It may seem like a kludge, but I swear to you it isn’t.

@Tara: I wouldn’t want you to change it if you feel its right. I love the story and especially the last five to ten pages. Its so good I just find myself backing a character’s point of view, almost becoming involved in the story.

It’s been fascinating seeing the debate of the no-weapons policy! I myself weigh in favour of it, and my primary concern would be spooked explorers with itchy trigger fingers, so whether concealed or not weapons coukd be a hazard. Unarmed, frightened surveyers are much more likely to run than fight, which is vastly preferable from a diplomatic standpoint!